As expected, some additional punishment has come from last night’s battle of Florida between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced that it has fined Anton Lundell $5,000 for high-sticking Jake Guentzel and Scott Sabourin $2,018.23 for slashing Niko Mikkola (X Link). Each punishment was the maximum allowable under the current CBA.
Panthers Rumors
Panthers' Mackie Samoskevich A Game-Time Decision
- In a different Atlantic Division matchup, the Florida Panthers may also be down a regular forward for their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning this evening. Team reporter Jameson Olive noted that Mackie Samoskevich will be a game-time decision. Still, head coach Paul Maurice, via Olive, suggested that Samoskevich is trending toward playing and chose to wait to name a potential replacement.
[SOURCE LINK]
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Florida Panthers
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Atlantic Division, next up are the Panthers.
Florida Panthers
Current Cap Hit: $103,050,261 (above the $95.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
None who are on the active roster on a full-time basis.
Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level
D Uvis Balinskis ($850K, UFA)
G Sergei Bobrovsky ($10MM, UFA)
F A.J. Greer ($850K, UFA)
F Noah Gregor ($775K, UFA)
F Luke Kunin ($775K, UFA)
F Tomas Nosek ($775K, UFA)
D Jeff Petry ($775K, UFA)
F Mackie Samoskevich ($775K, RFA)
D Donovan Sebrango ($775K, RFA)
F Cole Schwindt ($825K, UFA)
G Daniil Tarasov ($1.05MM, UFA)
Potential Bonuses
Petry: $250K
Greer has found a nice role in Florida, setting a career high offensively last season while more than doubling his career high in hits as well. This season, he’s off to an even better start. Given his role and Florida’s top-heavy salary structure though, they may not be able to afford to keep him if his price tag pushes towards the $1.5MM mark. Schwindt was a waiver claim from Vegas last month but played sparingly (before being injured earlier this month) after being in and out of the lineup last season. Unless his role changes considerably, he’s probably going to be capped at the league minimum on his next deal. Realistically, the same can be said for any of Nosek, Kunin, and Gregor.
However, Samoskevich is a much different situation. He accepted a one-way deal this past summer, taking less than his qualifying offer to get the guaranteed salary. In doing so, he’s setting himself up to have salary arbitration rights next summer. If he plays the middle-six role he currently has all season and beats his 31 points from a year ago, he should easily triple this price tag at a minimum; quadrupling it isn’t unrealistic if he has a big second half.
Balinskis performed well last season in his first full year on the third pairing and is being deployed similarly in the early going this year. As is the case with Greer, he’d need to stay around the minimum to stay in Florida while his market value might be more in the $1.5MM range.
Petry had a tough year with Detroit last season which certainly hurt his market. At 37, he’s best served as a third pairing or depth defender and this price tag reflects that. He has four $50K bonuses tied to games played that are achievable if he stays healthy while the other $50K is dependent on a Stanley Cup victory. There’s a good chance he stays near the minimum if he keeps playing beyond this season. Sebrango was claimed off waivers with Florida dealing with injuries. He’s just looking to get established as an NHL regular at this point but his arbitration eligibility could work against him if Florida thinks that filing for a hearing could push him into seven figures, a risk they might not want to take as he should also stay at the minimum.
There were times in this contract that Bobrovsky’s contract looked like a complete anchor on the books. However, he has become a bit more consistent in recent years and when Florida traded Spencer Knight at the trade deadline last season, it suggested that their plan is to stick with Bobrovsky beyond this deal as they don’t have anyone else in their system that’s ready. He’ll be entering his age-38 season in 2026-27 so a long-term deal isn’t likely. However, a two-year pact could be doable, one that might land closer to half this amount. Alternatively, if they were to go with a one-year offer, he’d be eligible for performance incentives which could give Florida some shorter-term wiggle room next season.
Tarasov had a rough year in Columbus, ultimately finishing as the third-string goaltender and getting moved for cheap in the summer. If he can re-establish himself to the level he was at in 2023-24, he could make a case to land closer to $1.75MM or so on his next contract although that’s a price tag Florida likely can’t afford.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Jesper Boqvist ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Eetu Luostarinen ($3MM, UFA)
F Evan Rodrigues ($3MM, UFA)
Free agency hasn’t been kind to Rodrigues which helped explain why he signed a four-year deal for this price tag, a contract that had a chance to become team-friendly pretty quickly. So far, so good on that front. As a player who consistently passes 30 points and can play down the middle in a pinch, he should be able to land something in the $4MM range on his next contract.
Luostarinen has been a player who has produced a point total in the 20s in three of the last four seasons. The production he had last playoffs (19 points in 23 games) was the outlier but for the most part, he has been a third liner making third-line money. With his production generally being more limited, he might not be able to land as much as Rodrigues next time out. Boqvist signed this deal near the trade deadline last season and he might have done better than he would have on the open market where he didn’t have a lot of luck in 2024. As a fourth liner with a bit of versatility, his value should hover somewhere around this mark two years from now.
Signed Through 2027-28
F Jonah Gadjovich ($775K in 2025-26, $905K after)
D Dmitry Kulikov ($1.15MM, UFA)
Gadjovich hasn’t played a lot since joining Florida in 2023 but he has been a serviceable fourth liner who fits the physical style they want to play. As a 13th forward in an ideal situation, keeping him at just over the minimum salary starting next season isn’t a bad deal for them.
The fact Kulikov received a four-year deal last summer was a surprise but he also left a fair bit of money on the table had he opted to go with shorter-term contracts. The end result is that he gets a bit of security while the Panthers get a bargain deal for someone who, when healthy (which he currently isn’t), is still a pretty dependable third-pairing defenseman at this point.
Injury Notes: Evans, Kleven, Samoskevich
The Montreal Canadiens lost an impact center in Saturday’s win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jake Evans left the game partway through after his knee was awkwardly hit by Pittsburgh’s Justin Brazeau. He promptly left the game and didn’t return.
Evans will move forward with a questionable tag, while Canadiens fans hold their breath hoping the knee-to-knee collission doesn’t result in a long-term absence. The 29 year old has served an important depth role for Montreal through the first half of the year. He has racked up 10 points, split evenly, and a minus-13 through 33 appearances while averaging third-line minutes. Evans scored a career-high 13 goals and 36 points last season – but generally hasn’t been one to rack up the scoring. He’s instead found impact with a strong, physical play and consistent lineup presence. He has only missed one game since 2023 – a streak that could change with this latest injury.
More injury updates from around the league:
- Ottawa Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven left the team’s win over the Chicago Blackhawks with a lower-body injury. The injury occured on an awkward fall against the boards, after getting his foot swept out from under him. He has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Boston Bruins, head coach Travis Green told TSN’s Claire Hanna. Kleven has four assists and a minus-12 in 31 games this season. He has offered stout depth for the Senators, and will be replaced by Jordan Spence in the short-term.
- Ahead of Saturday’s loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Florida Panthers announced that forward Mackie Samoskevich is day-to-day with a lower-body injury sustained on Friday, per NHL.com’s Jameson Olive. Samoskevich has 17 points and a minus-four in 34 games this season, operating from a third-line role. He’s been on a hot streak as of late, with three points in his last five games. That run will halt for the time being, while Florida turns towards Jack Studnicka to fill Samoskevich’s hole in the lineup.
Unclear If Tkachuk Will Be Ready To Return For Winter Classic
- While Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk has been skating on his own recently, he has yet to join the team for practice. As a result, GM Bill Zito told NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika that they don’t know if Tkachuk will be available for the Winter Classic in a little more than two weeks. The 28-year-old had surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia back in August and has yet to play this season. He’s averaged more than a point per game in four straight years and whenever he comes back – be it for the outdoor game or later on – he’ll be a huge boost to a Florida team that sits around the middle of the pack in the East.
Gustav Forsling Dealing With Arm Injury
- According to George Richards of Florida Hockey Now, defenseman Gustav Forsling wasn’t on the ice with the Florida Panthers this morning for practice. The belief is that Forsling is nursing an arm or hand injury after blocking a shot during Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fortunately, given the line rushes the team was using, there’s no expectation that Forsling will be out long, if at all.
[SOURCE LINK]
Panthers Reassign Jack Devine
The Panthers announced this afternoon that forward Jack Devine has been assigned to AHL Charlotte. That clears an active roster spot, one that could be used to activate star winger Matthew Tkachuk from long-term injured reserve in the coming days. Nearly two weeks have passed since he started skating again following offseason groin surgery.
If that’s the case, Florida isn’t done making roster moves. With Devine off the roster, they’re exceeding the cap by $7.24MM. They’re compliant because that’s less than their LTIR pool of $9.52MM. That pool will shrink to $5.7MM when Tkachuk is activated, though. That’s a $1.54MM difference they need to make up for. They’ll likely do so by shifting forwards Jonah Gadjovich and Cole Schwindt from standard IR to LTIR. They carry a combined cap hit of $1.6MM, increasing their LTIR pool by just enough to carry Tkachuk on the active roster without making any other changes to the roster.
Devine is in his first professional season and still has three years or 64 NHL games played remaining until he’ll require waivers to head to the minors, so that’s not a concern anytime soon. He’s the only waiver-exempt player on the roster aside from lineup fixture Mackie Samoskevich, so that made his reassignment more or less inevitable as Florida got healthier.
The right-shooting Devine had been out of the lineup as a healthy scratch in three consecutive games. He didn’t manage a point in six appearances since being recalled from Charlotte on Nov. 18. His possession numbers are solid enough, but he was deployed in extremely sheltered usage and had a -3 rating while averaging only 8:26 of ice time per game.
Florida drafted Devine with the fifth-to-last pick of the 2022 draft. He’s been on an upward trajectory ever since and turned pro this year on the heels of back-to-back 50-point seasons at the University of Denver, where he totaled a 57-106–163 scoring line in 162 collegiate appearances across four years. He won two national championships with the Pioneers and was the top scorer in college hockey with 57 points in 2024-25, finishing as a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award for the second year in a row.
His offensive success in the NCAA has followed him to the pros, just not yet to the NHL. He rattled off six goals and 12 points through his first 13 games with Charlotte before getting called up. He was the team’s leading scorer when he was removed from the roster last month and should reclaim that title soon enough as he’s in for an extended stint – potentially the rest of the season – down in the AHL after a quiet first stint on the Cats’ roster.
Anton Lundmark Clears Unconditional Waivers
Saturday: Lundmark passed through waivers unclaimed, Friedman reports. HockeySverige’s Mans Karlsson reports that the forward is indeed expected to rejoin Timrå.
Friday: The Panthers placed winger Anton Lundmark on unconditional waivers today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. He’ll have his contract terminated tomorrow after he clears, and will become an unrestricted free agent.
It’s a rapid end to Lundmark’s time in the Florida organization. The 24-year-old Swede signed a one-year, entry-level pact with the Cats in April as an undrafted free agent out of the Swedish Hockey League’s Timrå IK.
At the time, it was a highly puzzling move. The 6’4″, 192-lb Lundmark had never been on the public radar. Last season was the first time he’d ever suited up in the top tier of European professional hockey. All of his previous experience had come in the second and third divisions of Swedish hockey, even spending a few games in the fifth and sixth tiers earlier on in his development.
Even then, he wasn’t much more than a fourth-line penalty-killing piece for Timrå. In 49 games, he only registered five goals and nine points with a +2 rating.
Those numbers weren’t conducive to Lundmark having much of an impact in the minors, let alone coming anywhere close to landing an NHL job. In nine games with AHL Charlotte, he’s been held without a point and has a -2 rating. He’s been a healthy scratch for nearly half their schedule and has sat out of four of Charlotte’s last six games.
Lundmark’s previous contract with Timrå ran through 2025-26 and contained an NHL out-clause. Since they still hold his rights, he’s presumably returning there for the balance of the campaign.
Luostarinen Returns To Practice
- Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen returned to practice today for the first time since suffering burns while barbecuing, mentions team reporter Rob Darragh. He has missed the last eight games while recovering. The 27-year-old has taken on a bigger role this season in Aleksander Barkov’s absence, collecting 10 points in 18 games while logging a career-high 16:46 per game of ice time. Head coach Paul Maurice wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Luostarinen playing this weekend; if he does, Florida won’t have to make a roster move as they kept him on the active roster while injured.
Latest On Carter Verhaeghe
- Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe didn’t play in the team’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, but it wasn’t an injury that kept the former 40-goal scorer out of the lineup. TSN’s Mark Masters reported yesterday that Verhaeghe instead missed the game due to personal reasons, or more specifically, due to the fact that his wife is expecting a child. That Verhaeghe’s absence appears to be an entirely temporary one is very important to the Panthers. The team has struggled immensely with injuries so far in 2025-26 and losing a player like Verhaeghe (who has 16 points in 24 games) to injury would only further deplete their lineup.